Clear to us is the fact that high quality translational research cannot proceed optimally or perhaps not at all without access to human tissues for research purposes. For this reason we established the Tumor Tissue Core Laboratory which has proven to be of outstanding value to Cancer Center members involved in translational projects and has provided substantial support for several peer reviewed investigations. The core laboratory provides patient sample handling and short-term storage for specific investigator driven projects. The projects are most often prospective studies that require acquisition of tumor and control samples from humans. The purpose of the core laboratory is to provide facilities for the procurement, cataloging, and distribution of human tissues for funded, peer reviewed cancer research. In addition to solid tumor procurement, fresh leukemia cells are provided to members of the Cancer Center either without preparation or after Ficoll separation. The laboratory technical prepares cells under sterile conditions from bone marrow, peripheral blood, and pheresis samples. Isolated leukemia cells are available to Cancer Center members. The laboratory is fully equipped with a tissue culture hood, Coulter counter, Sorvall RT6000 centrifuge, and a Shandon cytospin. All relevant patient sample data are stored on the Wake Forest University School of Medicine's LAN with tight security. Current usage of the Cell Culture and Virus Vector Core Laboratory by Cancer Center approves projects has been 100% of overall use. Over the past two years, due to the substantial reduction in the size of the Cancer Center Support Grant, the Tumor Tissue Core Laboratory has received 6% of its funding from the CCSG. In the current proposal we are requesting a $35,765 or 62% of the total annual budget for the laboratory ($57,500).